I have a lot of hobbies and activities that I like to do, but one talent of mine that I truly feel is something that will help me as a teacher is my ability to accept others. I love when I see a room full of different people because I know I could walk up to each person and they could teach me something new. I've always been the person who has had a pretty diverse group of friends and I am always the one who feels for the student not fitting in socially. There is something in me that wants to make everyone feel loved and cared for.
I am not really sure how I became interested in this topic, but maybe it has something to do with growing up with a brother who was diagnosed with autism. I am younger than him, so my life was constantly revolving around individuals who didn't quite "fit in" according to norms. I think that he opened up my mind to see people as who they are and to not judge. My brother somehow paved the way for the me to be an accepting person without even really telling me to.
During my undergrad I majored in journalism and there is where I found I wanted to help educate people. I was stuck with exactly how I wanted to educate people. Something in me just said educate and care for everyone. Once I finally figured out my path of becoming a teacher after working in the business/journalism world, where caring for people doesn't really work, I knew this talent of accepting people would serve me well and much better as a leader in a classroom full of children.
I moved back home to Rhode Island to live with my parents and start my path of teaching. Somehow things fell into place. I got accepted into graduate school and I worked in education throughout Southern Rhode Island. One of the biggest things for me was realizing how accepting I was of others' differences when I worked as an ESL teacher at Lily Pad Learning. I had my students (they were adults) write in journals before class everyday. They were allowed to share their entries if they wanted, in the beginning most of them didn't feel comfortable, but by the second-third week, everyone was sharing. Their cultures were so incredibly different than mine and their opinions on politics, religion and education were as well, but I was their teacher and my goal was to accept them for who they are and to emphasize how to express themselves.
Accepting people isn't really a special skill, but it's something that I feel is important to keep and use. I hope to use my ability with each new group of students I work with every year. I think it is important for me to see my students as individuals and to know that each and every single one of them is special and unique.
I can't remember ever not accepting someone because they were different than me. I love diversity!
JF: Hi Meredith, Your description of your talent for accepting others is very interesting, but more detail would be useful. How do you think "accepting" others is similar or different from similar ideas such as empathy and social-emotional awareness? When did you become aware of this ability? How have you refined it over time? What have been the results of this process? How do you think this ability will serve you as a teacher or teacher leader? You should surround your examples with an introduction and a conclusions for preview and conclusion. Let me know if you decide to revise.
I am not really sure how I became interested in this topic, but maybe it has something to do with growing up with a brother who was diagnosed with autism. I am younger than him, so my life was constantly revolving around individuals who didn't quite "fit in" according to norms. I think that he opened up my mind to see people as who they are and to not judge. My brother somehow paved the way for the me to be an accepting person without even really telling me to.
During my undergrad I majored in journalism and there is where I found I wanted to help educate people. I was stuck with exactly how I wanted to educate people. Something in me just said educate and care for everyone. Once I finally figured out my path of becoming a teacher after working in the business/journalism world, where caring for people doesn't really work, I knew this talent of accepting people would serve me well and much better as a leader in a classroom full of children.
I moved back home to Rhode Island to live with my parents and start my path of teaching. Somehow things fell into place. I got accepted into graduate school and I worked in education throughout Southern Rhode Island. One of the biggest things for me was realizing how accepting I was of others' differences when I worked as an ESL teacher at Lily Pad Learning. I had my students (they were adults) write in journals before class everyday. They were allowed to share their entries if they wanted, in the beginning most of them didn't feel comfortable, but by the second-third week, everyone was sharing. Their cultures were so incredibly different than mine and their opinions on politics, religion and education were as well, but I was their teacher and my goal was to accept them for who they are and to emphasize how to express themselves.
Accepting people isn't really a special skill, but it's something that I feel is important to keep and use. I hope to use my ability with each new group of students I work with every year. I think it is important for me to see my students as individuals and to know that each and every single one of them is special and unique.
I can't remember ever not accepting someone because they were different than me. I love diversity!
Personal Profile
JF: Hi Meredith,
Your description of your talent for accepting others is very interesting, but more detail would be useful. How do you think "accepting" others is similar or different from similar ideas such as empathy and social-emotional awareness? When did you become aware of this ability? How have you refined it over time? What have been the results of this process? How do you think this ability will serve you as a teacher or teacher leader?
You should surround your examples with an introduction and a conclusions for preview and conclusion. Let me know if you decide to revise.